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Harris Faces Delicate Step Confronts Trump’s Racism at Presidential Debate

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While Vice President Kamala Harris has faced relentless attacks from Donald Trump and Republicans about her race and gender since becoming the Democratic presidential candidate, don’t expect her to dwell on it much during Tuesday’s presidential debate.

According to the New York Times, Harris’ campaign has “abandoned” what it sees as a “failed strategy” of calling out Trump’s racism and misogyny.

Exit reported“The vice president’s aides say telling voters what a terrible person Mr. Trump is is a waste of time, given how difficult it is to find a voter who doesn’t already have a preconceived notion of his character — good or bad,” the report said.

Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist and former staffer on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, said Harris’ campaign is “approaching this properly” by planning to avoid getting too caught up in Trump’s racial incitement.

“It’s not really going to shock anyone,” Payne said, referring to Trump’s frequent comments about Harris’ identity, including a false suggestion in July that she decided to “go black” for political reasons.

“I think the campaign is showing that the base understands how repulsive Donald Trump is,” explained Payne, who said the Harris campaign seems more focused on “winning over new voters” than stating the apparent.

He argued that “very few voters would be shocked to hear Donald Trump insult Kamala Harris.”

Republican Party presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the Economic Club of New York on September 5, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Payne, nonetheless, said that not overemphasizing Trump’s racism or sexism doesn’t mean the vice chairman should allow Trump to be “disrespected.” He added: “It’s not like he’s going to allow himself to be defamed.”

The strategist continued: “I think it’s just a matter of whether she uses this moment to focus on Trump and his grotesque way of talking about people of color and women, or whether she uses this to change the subject and say he’s not the right person to lead the country in 2025 and beyond.”

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, said Harris should concentrate on policy and what she’s going to deliver for Americans as president, especially Black and brown communities, comparable to creating more “good-paying” jobs, lowering costs and “putting more money in people’s pockets.”

Reecie Colbert, a political commentator and frequent Harris defender, expects debate moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis of ABC News to ask Harris about Trump’s comments about her race. She said it might be a “wasted event” if she avoided attacking Trump for his racism and misogyny.

“I think he has the ability to remind people of his racist past, but to use that as a springboard to say this person who doesn’t have the ability to understand the black experience in America is not going to dictate how I talk about my blackness,” said Colbert, who hosts the Sirius XM radio show “The Reecie Colbert Show.”

Colbert said that if it were her, she would say, “I will not let someone who calls Mexicans rapists, who says black people ‘live in hell,’ dictate how I talk about my blackness.”

Colbert noted that holding Trump accountable for his racist and sexist remarks could also “mobilize” young voters and voters of color.

Black voters, specifically, showed more enthusiasm for Harris than for President Joe Biden. Since becoming the party’s nominee, Harris has performed higher amongst black voters. A recent poll conducted The Washington Post and Ipsos found that 69% of black voters are “absolutely certain to vote” for Harris in November. Eighty-two percent said they’d “definitely” or “probably” vote for Harris.

Moreover, the share of black Americans under 30 — a coveted segment of young voters — who support her has risen 15 percentage points.

Kamala Harris, theGrio.com
Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris takes photos with supporters during a campaign rally with Democratic vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz at the Liacouras Center at Temple University on August 6, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Compared to Harris’ surge in support, the proportion of black voters supporting Trump remained the identical at 12%.

Payne expects that, like Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama in 2008, Harris will garner more support amongst black voters than current polls suggest.

But for any skeptical black voters, Payne said Harris has unveiled “really ambitious plans” to enhance the economy and minority communities and “strengthen the middle class.”

Harris has proposed child tax credits of as much as $6,000, down payments for first-time homebuyers and huge tax breaks for small businesses.

“Donald Trump is talking about giving police more immunity,” Colbert said, adding, “I think it would be a good thing to make that contrast.”

Colbert, nonetheless, said she doesn’t fully buy the suggestion that Harris should do more to achieve out to black voters.

“I don’t know if you’re going to convince ‘immigrants who get free rent and free phones from Obama’ — I don’t know if you’re going to convince that group with this debate,” she explained. “I think it’s more about mobilizing black voters than it is about converting a black Trump voter to a Kamala voter.”

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Video captured of Miami police officer picking up 15-year-old girl and throwing her to the ground because he thought she was going to attack him

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Ikeria Tate, a 15-year-old black girl from Miami, is facing felony charges after she was thrown to the ground by a Miami-Dade Public Schools police officer last week.

The incident occurred at Edison High School in Miami and was captured on video that was posted to Instagram last week, which is why the full, unedited footage appears to not be available online.

However, Local 10 obtained the video and used edited portions in its news story that showed a person identified only as Miami-Dade Public Schools Sergeant Odige throwing Tate to the ground during a fight at the school after a football game.

'I didn't throw a punch': Black girl says she was just trying to avoid another hit, but now faces charges for assaulting police officer
Ikeria Tate, a 15-year-old black girl from Miami, is facing charges after a Miami-Dade Public Schools police officer threw her to the ground last week, claiming he was only defending himself. (Photo: YouTube)

The footage shows that after he threw her body to the ground, the man approached her and grabbed her by the hair. At that time, she waved her right hand twice.

Miami-Dade Public Schools police believed the flapping of her arms was an attack on an officer, so she was charged with assaulting an officer, resisting arrest and disturbing a college.

An arrest report obtained by Local 10 stated that Tate “became aggressive, tensing up and pulling away. The defendant continued to be aggressive and attempted to strike the sergeant with a closed fist.”

However, Tate claims she tried to grab the officer to avoid further attack.

“When he hit me, I tried to hold him so I could get up because he couldn’t hit me,” she said. NBC station in Miami.

“I didn’t mean to hit him, I just told him to leave me alone,” Tate told Local 10.

The arrest report also said police were trying to separate the fighting women when Tate intervened, pushing Sergeant Odige away and punching him, causing him to “redirect” her to the ground, which is police jargon for throwing someone to the ground.

However, the footage released by Local 10 doesn’t show the moments leading up to the impact, which might support the allegation that the woman pushed and swung at the officer.

“When I got up, he pulled me back down, like threw me back down, and one of the cops started stomping on my hair,” she told NBC Miami. “And then they handcuffed me and put me in the back of the police car.”

The incident occurred on September 11 after a football game at Edison High School, a college positioned in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami.

Police say a fight broke out between parents and students outside the school’s locker room. They tried to separate the attackers when Tate intervened.

However, Tate claims she was only one of several individuals who saw the fight when the officer grabbed her and began throwing her around.

The Miami-Dade School District and Miami-Dade Public Schools Department said they’re investigating the incident.

For now, nevertheless, Tate faces up to five years in prison for his third offense of assaulting a law enforcement officer.

Local media reported she was charged with resisting arrest, but didn’t specify whether she was charged with resisting arrest with violence or without violence, as those are two separate charges in Florida.

The former is a third-degree felony, also punishable by up to five years in prison, while the latter is just a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one 12 months in prison.

But she likely faces the former, as she also faces an assault charge. The charge can’t be confirmed through online public records because she is a minor.

“I don’t think he should have done that to my child. If anything, you should have tried to stop her in a better way,” Tate’s mother, Monique Warner, told Local 10.

“He shouldn’t touch anyone’s children like that. You should help them. That’s why children are afraid of the law.”

This article was originally published on : atlantablackstar.com
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Kamala Harris Stresses She Needs to Earn Black Male Votes and Doesn’t ‘Assume’ She Has Them During NABJ-WHYY Panel

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Kamala Harris, NABJ-WHYY conversation with Vice President Kamala Harris, theGrio.com

“Black men are like any other voting group; you have to earn their votes,” Harris told the panel, co-moderated by Gaynor, Poltico’s Eugene Daniels and NPR’s WHYY’s Tonya Mosley. “So I work to earn my votes. I don’t assume I’m going to get them because I’m black.”

Although a majority of black voters surveyed — 77 percent — plan to select Harris, Pew Research Center — Many headlines are repeating reports that more and more black men are declaring support for former President Donald Trump this election cycle.

Harris also discussed her plans to increase the deduction entrepreneurs can claim when starting a business from $5,000 to $50,000, saying the $5,000 deduction is much too little to help people get their businesses off the bottom.

“Part of my approach is to understand the obstacles that traditionally and currently exist that prevent anyone, including black men, from achieving economic prosperity, and I will tell you that I don’t think that just talking about economic policy focused on reducing unemployment is enough,” Harris continued.

During the interview, Harris also addressed the provision of childcare and lower housing costs.

Policy

She also responded to questions on the Gaza conflict, emphasizing the necessity for a hostage deal as Daniels pressed her on questions on the United States’ role in supplying weapons to Israel. Mosley also asked her whether the United States had the resources to support the Palestinians of their right to self-determination.

“I have been actively participating, for example, in meetings not only with Israeli officials but also with Arab officials to talk about how we can construct a scenario for the day after that in which we participate in ensuring those exact goals that I have outlined, including … that there will be no reoccupation of Gaza,” Harris told Moseley.

Harris also addressed false and racist rumors spread by former President Trump and his vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance, about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, calling the situation “shameful” and saying those in positions of authority have a responsibility to understand the ability of their words.

“When you have a microphone like that in front of you, you really have to understand on a very deep level how much your words matter,” Harris said. “There’s a deep responsibility that comes with it, which is an extension of … this concept of public trust. You’ve been given a trust to be responsible for how you use your words, and even more so for how you conduct yourself, especially when you’ve been and then you’re trying to become president of the United States of America again.”

In contrast to her extremely aggressive and tense interview with Donald Trump on NABJ in July, Harris ended the interview by thanking NABJ and the reporters for making the conversation possible.

You can watch your entire conversation here.

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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National Voter Registration Day: Harris-Walz Campaign, DNC Launch Nationwide Outreach Campaign at 60 HBCU Campuses – Essence

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Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

As a part of a significant effort to mobilize young Black voters ahead of the 2024 election, the Harris-Walz campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) have launched a comprehensive voter registration drive to coincide with National Voter Registration Day (September 17) and National Black Voter Registration Day (September 20). This comprehensive push will concentrate on key swing states and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) ahead of the 2024 presidential election, which is fast approaching in only 49 days.

The campaign will include in-person and virtual campaign events at 60 HBCU campuses in key swing states like Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, (*60*) and Michigan. Harris-Walz’s campaign is tapping into the energy of HBCUs, which have long played a key role in black civic engagement. This week, the campaign will hold nine in-person voter registration events in North Carolina, the state with the second-largest variety of HBCUs within the country.

Vice President Kamala Harris may also mark National Voter Registration Day with a high-profile event in Philadelphia, where she’s going to take part in a moderated Q&A with National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ)). The event will happen in front of an audience of scholars from Lincoln University and Cheyney University, two historic HBCUs, in addition to NABJ members.

“We look forward to our members and student journalists hearing from Vice President Harris as our panel asks the tough questions that are most pressing to the communities served by NABJ members,” said NABJ President Ken Lemon. he said in an announcement to WHYY radio, which can host the interview at its headquarters.

This speech got here just a few month after the NABJ was met with widespread criticism for inviting former President Donald Trump to the annual convention, which drew a backlash from some members and the general public. The invitation, which was a part of the organization’s effort to have interaction with diverse political voices, led to a backlash, particularly from communities critical of Trump’s record on issues affecting Black Americans. Harris’ event is seen as a chance to refocus on voter engagement, particularly amongst Black youth, ahead of the 2024 election.

Lemon added, “As we have always said, NABJ does not endorse political candidates as a journalistic organization. As we demonstrated during our interview with former President Trump at the convention, this event will not be a campaign rally, but it will be conducted with respect for journalistic principles.”

NABJ will broadcast PolitiFact fact-checks survive its website and social media accounts using the hashtag #NABJFactCheck.

In addition to on-the-ground efforts, the campaign will engage voters through digital platforms. The campaign has partnered with Revolt to take over the homepage of the hip-hop culture and news website. This digital initiative, together with other media partnerships, will leverage platforms that resonate with Black Americans, particularly younger voters, to convey the message of getting out the vote.

The campaign can be launching a national voter registration text line, with information available in English and Spanish. The resource is meant to simplify the voter registration process and guide voters through the DNC’s IWillVote.com platform. The campaign says the text line is an element of a broader effort to make sure voters have access to clear and reliable details about registering and casting ballots.

“Every voter deserves to have their voice heard and cast their vote for the future they want to see, which is why we’ve invested millions in our I Will Vote programme and launched a new text helpline so young voters can get real-time information and live support straight to their phones in the run-up to Election Day.” DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison said in an announcement to NBC News.

On Friday, Sept. 20, National Black Voter Registration Day, the Harris-Walz campaign will further ramp up its voter registration efforts with one other media partnership aimed at registering black voters. Focusing on key swing states like Georgia and (*60*) is seen as crucial to each the campaign’s success and the Democrats’ broader electoral strategy. Black voters played a pivotal role in flipping those states within the 2020 election, and the Harris-Walz campaign appears to be prioritizing reaching those communities to maintain that momentum going.

While black voters have historically leaned Democratic, engagement stays a challenge for each parties, especially amongst younger voters. Campaigns are increasingly specializing in young voters, recognizing their potential to influence elections in key swing states.

This article was originally published on : www.essence.com
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